Six world leaders will be distracted at G20 meetings

By Bill Mann

With a $1 billion security perimeter in downtown Toronto in place and holding (so far), if any battles outside this weekend’s G20 meetings are going to distract world leaders, it’s likely to be those in South Africa involving men in cleats.

Six of the world leaders at the big G20 economic summit in Toronto have teams still alive in the World Cup’s Round of 16. They’ll have to balance the fate of the world’s economy, says the Toronto Star puckishly, with the World Cup this weekend. They’ll be keeping their eyes on the ball.

South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak, for example, and his wife watched the South Korea-Nigeria match Wednesday at 3:30 a.m. local time, and when South Korea advanced with a tie, Lee issued a pre-dawn congratulatory message to his team.

It’s a good bet President Obama will get constant updates on the U.S.’ Saturday matchup with Ghana, and British Prime Minister David Cameron and German leader Angela Merkel will almost certainly have TV’s nearby to catch an occasional glimpse their two countries’ epic showdown Sunday morning.

Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez and Mexican President Felipe Calderon will also be distracted by the World Cup Saturday in Toronto.

Beatrice Fenlon of the Summit Management Office said G20 organizers are well aware of the soccer distractions, telling the Star, “Rest assured. Leaders, delegates, and media will be able to follow the game during the summits.”

So if a key meeting in Toronto on Europe’s struggling economies is punctuated by the loud cry of “Goooooal!” it may not be because a resolution has passed.